


The Daring Rescue

by zubeneschamali



Series: Little Lord Ackles [4]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M, pirate!jared, virgin!Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 01:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10686588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zubeneschamali/pseuds/zubeneschamali
Summary: When Jared hears of Jensen's predicament, he is bound and determined to rescue him, no matter the cost to himself.





	The Daring Rescue

"Captain, if I may be allowed—"

"You've already spoken your mind, Hodge." Jared clapped a hand on his first mate's shoulder. "If need be, I'll take the dinghy and row myself ashore. This is my personal journey, not that of the crew."

"You know we have your back, sir," Hodge replied. "As long as this is what you really want to do."

"It is," Jared replied firmly, checking that his sword was securely fastened to his side. "I know it might be hard to understand, but this is something I must do."

"Not hard to understand a man in love," Hodge replied. When Jared raised his eyebrows, he held up his hands and went on, "With all due respect, Captain."

"If anything happens to the governor's son while he is in the hands of a smuggler, the increased patrols of the islands will be nothing compared to what the Royal Navy will rain down on us," Jared retorted. "I don't know what Pellegrino was thinking, but this cannot be allowed."

"That's what you told all of us on deck earlier." Hodge folded his arms across his chest. "This is not a ship of fools, Captain. Murray notwithstanding."

Jared pressed his lips together. "And I also told you that if you had a problem, you did not need to accompany me."

"Did you see anyone refusing to go along with you?" Hodge asked. "I did not. Myself included. So can we get on with this rescue mission that is purely for the good of the pirates and smugglers of the islands?"

He had good men, Jared knew. More loyal than any soldiers, because they were with him by choice. Even on this trip to rescue Jensen from the clutches of someone who'd been sailing these seas for longer than almost any of them, Hodge was right, none of them had expressed their doubts.

"We'll drop anchor in the narrow bay on the eastern side of the island," Jared said, tucking two short, sharp knives into his belt. "Pellegrino's caves are over the ridge to the north. He'll probably have Jensen in the uppermost one so the guards can see anyone coming from below."

"Which is why we're coming from above," Hodge grinned. "Beth will ensure the guards are out of the way, and then you can get your boy."

Jared rolled his eyes, knowing any further protest was futile, given that he'd just referred to Jensen by his first name. "We'll have to go up and over on our way out as well. If Jensen is unable to walk, I can carry him."

"He'll be fine," Hodge said. "Pellegrino wouldn't risk harming a valuable hostage."

"He's had him for two weeks," Jared reminded him. "God only knows what he might have done to him."

"He'll be fine," Hodge repeated, and Jared let himself believe it.

 

As soon as the sun was kissing the horizon, the _Megan_ dropped anchor in the narrow, rocky bay. Murray rowed Jared, Hodge, Riesgraf, and Kane across, muffled oars making barely a splash in the quiet waters. The boat would return once they were ashore to pick up a second round in case they were needed, but four were more silent than eight.

Jared adjusted his baldric to keep his sword hilt from poking him in the ribs as they began to climb the rocky hillside. There was a sweet, floral perfume in the air from the honeysuckle winding its way across the rocks, and the moonlight was just enough to show them where to put their hands and feet. The sun might have set, but the air was still warm and heavy, and there was sweat trickling down Jared's back with every step he took.

In what seemed like no time at all, they were standing atop a rocky outcropping, looking out over a wider bay lined with pearl-white sand. There were three campfires, each with three or four men around them, and two ships at anchor. Jared strained his eyes, but from this distance he couldn't tell if Pellegrino was among them. Nor could he see Jensen, but then he wouldn't have expected to anyway. 

"Riesgraf," he started, but she already had a rope around her waist and was fastening the other end around a tree. 

She looked up and pursed her lips, whistling a sound exactly like the island sparrow. "Twice when it's free and clear, captain," she said. Then she grinned and dropped over the edge.

Jared watched the rope go taut, and he rubbed his hand over his face. She might be as crazy as anyone he'd ever known, but she had been an invaluable member of his crew on more than one occasion. "Around the side," he whispered, pointing towards his left.

They clambered quietly down the rocky slope like crabs, wincing every time a rock or pebble threatened to fall. Jared was in front, and he was almost to the cave mouth when he heard a grunt, and then another. By the time he was on his feet, their cheerful double trill of a sparrow was piercing the air, and he grinned as he stepped forward.

Riesgraf was standing over two men, efficiently tying them up back to back. "I haven't gone in yet," she whispered, "but there's only one person in there, and he's on his side like he's tied up, so I'm guessing it's your boy."

"He's not—" Jared huffed out a breath and stepped forward, pulling one of the short knives from his belt just in case. "Thank you, Riesgraf."

She repeated the bird whistle in reply with a wink.

Jared trusted that Riesgraf wouldn't have missed anyone in the cave, but he still moved carefully and silently as he went inside. There were no torches flickering, but the moonlight over his shoulder illuminated the huddled shape of a body near the left wall of the cave. The air was cooler here than outside, and a sudden shiver rushed over Jared as the sweat began to cool on his body.

"Jensen?" he whispered, but there was no reply. Kneeling down beside the figure, he carefully turned him over. Jensen was gagged with a white handkerchief, hands bound before him with nautical rope, legs tied the same way. Jared's eyes had adjusted to the dim light enough so that he could see the red marks on Jensen's wrists where the rope had chafed them, and he silently vowed to run his sword through Pellegrino at the first possible opportunity.

He lowered his knife and started to delicately cut at the cloth of the gag. Just as the first strands parted, Jensen muttered and started to stir.

"Jensen?" Jared said in a low voice, holding his breath.

Jensen's eyelids fluttered open. In a second, he took in Jared kneeling over him, and then the knife he was holding, glinting in the moonlight. Eyes widening in terror, he tried to shout through his gag, scrambling backwards across the rough, rocky floor.

"Wait!" Jared hissed. He dropped the knife with a clatter and lunged forward, getting an arm around Jensen's struggling form. "Quiet, my little lord!"

Jensen froze. He was lying beneath Jared, bound hands trapped between their bodies, chest rising and falling rapidly against Jared's. "'are?" he forced out through the gag.

"It's me," Jared whispered. "Let me untie you." He could feel Jensen trembling beneath him. He couldn't tell whether it was from cold or fear, but in either case, it sent a fierce wave of protectiveness over him.

There was a short pause. Then Jensen nodded and laid his head back against the ground, eyes never leaving Jared's.

He stroked Jensen's hair once before reaching back for the knife. Jensen held up his hands, and Jared carefully sawed through the rope one strand at a time. 

When he was nearly done, Jensen yanked the rope off the rest of the way, narrowly avoiding cutting himself on the knife. He sat up and tugged the gag out of his mouth and over his head, hurling it somewhere into the darkness of the cave. "Jared," he murmured, his voice dry and raspy, and then he was reaching up to tangle his fingers in Jared's hair and bring Jared's mouth down to his.

"Mmph!" Jared exclaimed in surprise, but he wasn't complaining. For two weeks, he hadn't allowed himself to worry about Jensen, concentrating only on how to find him and rescue him. Now that he was safe and here with him, it hit him like a sudden punch, all of the fear that they wouldn't be able to find him or that they would be too late, and then he was kissing Jensen back as hard as he could.

It was when Jensen's fingers started to tug too hard at Jared's hair that he winced and pulled back. "We need to get away from here," he murmured against Jensen's lips, interspersed with more kisses. "Can you walk?"

"Not with bound legs," Jensen retorted.

Jared's heart soared at hearing Jensen's familiar fighting spirit. Still, he nipped at Jensen's lower lip. "Apologies, but someone threw themselves at me before I could finish." He held up the knife. "If I may?"

Jensen made a sweeping gesture towards his ankles, and Jared freed him in no time. He tucked the knife away and pulled Jensen to his feet, not stopping until he was securely in his arms. Lowering his head, he breathed in Jensen's familiar scent, nose tucked behind his ear.

Jensen murmured, "If you're done sniffing me, shall we go?" Despite his light words, he had a tight grasp of the back of Jared's shirt in both hands, and the occasional tremor still washed over him.

Jared brushed a kiss to his neck and pulled back. "I have three of my people here and four more between us and the ship. If you can walk, we can go up and over the ridge and avoid Pellegrino's men."

There was a sudden shout from outside, and then the clear clang of steel on steel. "Too late for that," Jensen muttered. 

Jared's heart sank. "Stay behind me," he warned even as he rose to his feet and drew his sword in one fluid motion. "We can hold them off one at a time until we have to, until my reinforcements arrive."

"They can only come at us one at a time," Jensen replied, ducking around Jared. "The passageway to the lower caves is too narrow for more than one man to pass at once."

Jared grabbed his arm, but Jensen shook it off. "Jensen..." He was already near the mouth of the cave, and Jared scrambled to catch up, suddenly wishing his little lord was a little more retiring.

Jensen was bending down to pick up the discarded sword of one of the fallen guards when Riesgraf suddenly appeared, silhouetted by the moonlight but her face in shadow. Instantly, Jensen had the unfamiliar sword up, its tip hovering near her cheek. "Identify yourself," he snarled.

"Jensen, it's okay." Jared came up on his right, hands spread open, moving towards Riesgraf. "She's one of my crew. It's okay." 

Riesgraf had frozen, hands up. When Jensen gave a sharp nod and lowered his sword, she stepped back. "Are you sure he really needs rescuing, Captain? He seems to do fine on his own."

"About that," Jared said, but then the clash of swords broke into his thoughts. He looked down to see Kane holding back another swordsman, or maybe driving him back down the hillside, a blade in each hand. "Is that second sword...?"

"It was his," Riesgraf replied, pointing at the two unconscious men tied up behind him. "Kane said he could fight better with two."

"Of course he did." Jared ran a hand through his hair. "Jensen, we had best get you back to my ship."

"I can fight," Jensen insisted.

Jared looked him over, from his dirt-streaked face to the tight but capable grip he had on the hilt of his sword to his torn and muddied breeches. "I have no doubt that you can," he replied, "but you don't need to."

A moment passed. Then Jensen nodded. "Very well."

They clambered the short distance up the hillside, Riesgraf in front, then Jensen, then Jared. Hodge soon followed behind them, and once they were scrambling down the rocky slope towards the bay where the _Megan_ was gently bobbing, Jared spotted Kane making his way towards them as well. Perhaps no one else in Pellegrino's crew had heard the fighting, or perhaps there had been fewer than he thought and Kane had dispatched them all.

Beside him, Jensen suddenly grabbed his arm. Jared braced himself, thinking Jensen was about to fall. Instead, he pointed towards the water. "Look."

A ship was rounding the corner, sails unfurled, bearing down on the _Megan_. "Ahoy!" Jared shouted, but the crew on board had seen the danger and were turning to face it. Their cannon were pointed the wrong way, and it didn't look like they were going to be able to turn fast enough.

"That's one of Pellegrino's ships," Jensen said. "He's not going to let us leave."

"He's not going to have a choice," Jared growled. Louder, he called, "Onward, let's go!"

They scrambled down the slope the rest of the way, Jared switching his attention between keeping an eye on his footing and watching with bated breath as the _Megan_ did all she could to avoid being boarded. The second boatload of reinforcements had sailed back to offer assistance, and that left the five of them standing on the shoreline, watching as Pellegrino's crew threw hooks tied to ropes while Jared's crew cut and hacked at them to keep them from being used for boarding.

"Jared, this isn't…" Jensen took a hold of his arm. "He'll kill your people. If I give myself up—"

"You will do no such thing." Jared put two fingers in his mouth and gave a shrill whistle. A moment later, the rowboat started back towards them, Murray working the oars as hard as Jared had ever seen him. "You'll stay right here on the shore until it's safe."

"Like hell I will," Jensen retorted. "How do you know there aren't more of them following us down the ridge?"

"Because there aren't," Kane replied darkly, wiping his sword on the beach grass at his feet.

Jensen's throat bobbed as he swallowed.

Jared put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that you how to fence very well. But that is nothing like fighting a human being who will hurt you unless you hurt them first. Believe me, I know."

Jensen searched his eyes, and Jared wondered if he was going to ask questions that Jared had no interest in answering, least of all right now. But he only straightened his shoulders and said, "I'm not staying here."

Jared couldn't get another word out before Jensen was racing past him and splashing into the shallows of the bay. Throwing his hands up in exasperation, Jared followed him onto the rowboat, vowing to keep a close eye on him in the battle they were about to enter.

They clambered up the side one at a time, Jared in the lead. He turned to lend Jensen a hand over the railing, but he already had two hands in a firm grip on the brass railing, swinging his legs up and over the side before dropping into a crouch and smoothly drawing his sword.

Jared blinked. He had some questions of his own to ask Jensen once this was all over. 

There was no time for that now, though, since a cry was going up as the first of Pellegrino's men landed on the opposite side of the _Megan_. Jared drew his sword with a cry and charged him, watching grimly as more men began to follow.

His crew weren’t all top caliber with a sword, but they could hold their own, especially on the defensive. Even engaged with his opponent, a woman with flame-red hair who was more than capable with her sword, Jared looked around to see Kane dueling two men at once while Hodge guarded his back. Riesgraf had swung herself up into the rigging and was shooting arrows at the other ship, whooping every time one hit a target.

There was a shout behind him, and then the sharp screech of metal on metal nearly upon him. Jared ducked instinctively, whirling and dropping into a crouch.

He looked back to see Jensen holding his sword with two hands, straining with all of his might to keep a blade away from Jared's back. He recognized Roché, Pellegrino's second in command, wielding the sword, and Jared's heart sank. Some said he was a more skilled swordsman than Pellegrino himself, and there was no way Jensen could—

A movement to his right made him flinch, just as the sword from the woman he _had_ been fighting swept down beside him. Jared fell back onto his rear but quickly recovered, rolling to his feet with his weapon brandished once again.

"Behind you," Jensen called, though not as a warning. 

Jared cast a quick glance over his shoulder and then settled into place, back to back with Jensen, each of them fighting off one of Pellegrino's crew. Jared trusted nearly any of his own crew to have his back, of course, and he still wasn't certain of Jensen's prowess with a blade. Still, every time he took a short look, Jensen was holding his own. More than, given that he was driving Roché back towards the gunwale, and the sudden, fierce pride that swept over Jared had him fighting even harder. 

There was a thump from behind him and a curse growled in French. Then a loud splash, and Jared whirled to see that Roché had disappeared over the side of the ship.

Hodge whooped, and then Riesgraf, and then a cheer went up from the whole ship. New boardings had slowed since Riesgraf's arrows started making men look like porcupines. Once she started sending flame-tipped arrows, they were too busy putting out fires to try any further attempts at boarding Jared's ship.

As soon as Jared had disarmed his opponent and sent her sprawling on her back, Jared's sword at her throat, the rest of Pellegrino's crew abandoned ship, diving over the side or clambering back along their ropes.

"What is your name?" Jared asked.

The woman gritted her teeth. "Huffman."

"Tell your master that he's done a foolish thing," Jared warned. 

"You are the fool," Huffman retorted. "He won't leave you alone after this."

"Get off my ship," Jared retorted. "And let us pass lest we set your overgrown rowboat on fire."

Huffman glared, but she scrambled to her feet and to the gunwale. Hand over hand, she climbed the rope back to his ship, and then cut it loose with a sarcastic salute.

Jared let out a sigh and let his sword fall to his side. "All hands!" he called. "Hodge, get us out of here."

Hodge saluted and started barking orders at the men and women scuttling up the rigging. Jared watched for a moment and then turned to Jensen.

He was still holding his sword, looking tired, but there was a fire in his eyes that warmed Jared to the core. "Are you all right?" Jensen asked.

"Fine," Jared replied. He lifted one hand to touch Jensen's cheek. "You're bleeding."

Jensen jerked his head away. "He barely scratched me." The hint of a smirk played around his lips. "I told you I could fight."

"You did indeed," Jared replied. He looked over his own sword, then frowned. He'd have to clean it before putting it away. "We should talk. In my cabin."

All levity slid away from Jensen's face. "Of course. Captain."

Jared frowned, but half his crew was already teasing him over "his boy," so any further conversation could wait. "This way," he said, gesturing towards the main cabin.

At least Jensen was safe now.


End file.
